Traveling tuentable equipment eor garages



June 2, 1931. G. LowENsTElN 1,807,597

TEAVELING TURNTABLE EQUIPMENT EoR GAEAGES Filed Dec. 7, 1927 u 600m? rf/ a verni/ein Patented June 2, 1931 PATENT OFFICE GOTHARD LOVTENSTEIN, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK TRAVELING- TURNTABLE EGUPMENT FOR GAR-AGES Applicationy filed December This invention relates to improvements in garages and garage equipment and lmore particularly refers to an improved arrangement of carrier to be used for speeding up V- internal traflic in garages, and guiding means therefor.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a traveling platform of a novel and improved design adapted to transport and change the direction of vehicles being moved from one point of the garage floor to another.

Another object is to provide in combination with a platform adaptedito 'transport l? and to change the direction of vehicles sup` ported thereby, a novel arrangement of guiding means therefor, making it easy to propel and to turn said platform in various predetermined directions, according to the position occupied by said platform on a garage floor. y

Afurther object is to provide anovel and improved arrangement of garage Hoor, calculated to increase the efiiciency of trafiic fof, on said floor and permitting the efficient use of availablestorage space.

@ther objects and advantages of the present invention Will more fully appear as the description proceeds and Will be 'set forth n and claimed in the appended claims.

The efficient operation of a garage Vis largely dependent upon the manner in which the available storage space is made use of and upon the speed With which the Y necessary movements for vehicles to move to and from theirplaces of storage and the entrance to or the eXist from the floor can be effected.

As a general rule, these two requirements are antagonistic to each other, since the more space is devoted to the storage ofvehicles and the less spaceis left for the vehicles toV move about the garage floor, so that in the average garage, a material proportion of thel floor space is-left empty, and yet, the movement `of vehicles can only be effected With considerable delay. Y

Various 'arrangements have therefore been resorted to in order` to conciliate these tivo conditions in a manner permitting of using 7, 1927. Serial N'O. 238,406.

to the best efficiency, the storage space avail able, at the same time insuring speedy handling of vehicles to and from their storage stalls. Y

Such arrangements are incidentally advantageous in cutting down to'a minimum the number of mishaps and slight accidents which are now a matter of common Voccurrence in garages, and Which go to increase the cost of operatingl a garage to a very material extent. l

Many such arrangements Which have come to my notice however, require specially built buildings or costly alterations to eX- isting buildings so` thatthey are ill adapted for general use. One of the aims of my present invention is toprovidea simple andv relatively inexpensive arrangement for bettering trafiic conditions on a garage floor, and for otherwise improving the operating efliciency of a garage. By Way of example, an embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. lis a plan sectional view of a typical garage fioor, equiped With vehicle handling means, coming Within the scope of my invention; and y l Fig. 2 is a side view in elevation of a carrier also embodying my invention, adapted for use on a garage floor.

My invention essentially consists in transporting vehicles from one point of a garage` fioorfto anotner by means of a platform on Which said vehicles are supported, said platform being ada ted to travel from one point to another and being also adapted to rotate on a horizontal plane; so that the carrier can both transport and change the direction of the vehicles supported thereby.

In its preferred embodiment, the invention 'also comprises means 4for guiding the carrier during the. course of its movements, said means constituting also positioning means insuring the proper alignment of the vehicles carried by said carrier.

My invention Will be better understood by referring tosaid drawings, in which, l0 designates a garage floor provided with a front entrance 11, the Width of said floor being sufiicientto accommodate two longitudinal tif) rows of vehicles 12, 13, 14, l5, and two longitudiiial runways 16, 17, serving rows of vehicles 12-13, 1li- 15, respectively.

It will be observed that while vehicles entering or leaving the floor through entrance 11 have their aXis longitudinally directed, thervehiclesstored in .their-respectiveV4 stalls are transversely directed with respect a four casters suchzas 19 enablingit to,I travel` in any direction and alsoy enabling itto turn in-:a horizontal plane about its own' axis.

I provide said platform with some suitable operating means such as `forfinst-ance, hand levers-20, 21, and I am.- therefore-:eir-y abled to'imove the platform to=any"desired point on the-floor.

In orderto makeJ-it easier-for vehiclessto be drivenonvoroffr the-V platform, Ilprovide'` a runway for said platform suilieiently de; pressed to permitthe platform toacome very close `to the,v floors.

In the arrangement' illustrated in the drawing, it is suliicient te provide a runway extending longitudinally betweenrows of vehicles 12, 13, as shownV at 16,'A another run wayextending longitudinally betweenrowsof vehicles 14, 15 as shown :it-17 andfa'noth'er transversal runway 22 in front: connecting said lateral runways.

Inthis manner, the carrier-.may bebrought directly oppositey entrancey 11 asfshown and .Y

can be moved in onefor the Yother:direction along transversal runway 22 -u-ntil it =reaches one i of the two i lateral run-ways, whenl -itcan be turned around 90o thus setting the-vehi-y cle carried thereby transversely to the direction of the entrance.

The carrier can then becaused to travel along thelongitudinal runway thus reached, until it may be stoppeddiiectly opposite the stall that the vehiclel or theV carrier-is tooccupy. At this point, the-vehicle being already set` in the proper direction, can bedriven on its own power off the platform andk onto its storage place.

The reverse takesplace whena vehicle is to be moved from. its storage place to theV entrance, oi exit.-

Thel depressed runway maybe of aV width corresponding to `the 'distanceY -betweenf` the outer surfaces of thecasters with Ywhich the platfornrisy provided;y butin .orderto leave the level of the floor as uniforni'as possible,

I prefer to provide"comparatively'narrow individual runways' for the` two sets ofA wheels, one at eacliiside of the platform, said individual'runway being indicated at 16', 16,`17, 17 and 22', 22.

These runways being relatively narrow, they do not prevent the free travel of vehicles across the floor in case the same should be needed, so that the Hoor can be used in the ordinary manner.

By virtue of this arrangement, it is also possiblewhen ;all .the stalls in longitudinal rowsfor-vehicles l2, 13,14, 15 are occupied, to usealso the longitudinal runways as teniporary additional storage space, if desired.

Accordingly, transversal runways 22', 22 intersect. longitudinal. runways )AY-16, 17 17, andat the points of intersection circularrunways 23,24-are provided, adapt ed to receive all the four wheels of the platform, when the same is caused to rotate about its own vertical axis.

Inord'er to facilitate the maneuvering'of the platform, th'esame is moved along transversal runways 2222, in one orthe other direction, until the edge of the platform strikes a roller 25, Q6, arranged to rotate in a horizontal plane.

These'rollers thus act as positioning means for the platform defining the positions at which the platform'vis to be turned 90Or in one or the other direction, before beingdriven through 16-16 or 17 '-17 From the foregoing description, it will be seen thatall the'movements of vehicles to and from theirA places of' storage can be speedily an-d'safely effected by employing means of'an excessively simple and ineX'- pensive nature.

It will be observed thatinthe preferred embodiment described, the casters are imprisoned betweenerthe side surfaces of the runways' within. whichthey travel, so that they serve to prevent displacements of the platform `transverse .tothe direction of the runway,l such as mightvbe caused by the imrunways pact of a :vehicle-beingdriven on oro the platform.4

It rwill be observed that while the drawings showa traveling turn table equipped with casters underneath the platform, it is also possible to conceive aconstruction of'turn table-where the underside ofithe vplatform is butslightly higher than the underside of the wheels of the supporting casters The advantage of such a constructioniis that the platform willloe practically on a level with the floor without the necessity of providing recessed trackways therefor. Such a construction .maybe obtained 'by resorting to an arrangement similar to thatfdescribed in connection with a carrier forming the ob'icet of anotherIV application entitled, Traveling turn'- table, Ser: No. 227,756, copending herewith.

vThe specific featurel of said carrier is that the shafts on 'which the wheels are mounted` are supported above the-platform, the wheels projecting through openings provided in the platform in correspondence thereof.

A parallel construction may be adopted in the present case, by mounting the caster pivots on frames upwardly projecting from the platform, and in providing openings through said platform wide enough to permit free steering of the caster wheels.

It is obvious that the other various details of construction may vary in practice from those shown and described without substantially departing from the inventive idea; therefore, I reserve myself the right to carry my invention into practice in allV those ways and manners which may enter fairly, into the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a building for the purpose described, the combination with a storage floor, of a carrier comprising a vehicle supporting platform and supporting casters therefor, said supporting casters being adapted to carry said platform along a linear path and being also adapted to follow angular movements of said platform about its vertical axis, and sunken individual tracks in said floor for the supporting casters at each side of said platform, guiding said carrier along a predetermined path of travel, the depth of said tracks substantially corresponding to the vertical distance between the lower surfaces of said casters and the edge of said platform. n

2. In a building for the purpose described, the combination with a storage floor, of a carrier comprising a vehicle supporting platform and supporting casters therefor', said supporting means being adapted to carry said platform along a linear path and being also adapted to follow angular movements of said platform about its vertical axis, a sunken trackway comprising a plurality of linear tracts running at an angle to each other, each tract comprising an individual track for the supporting casters at each side of said platform, and a circular track on a level with said trackway tracts connecting said linear tracts at their junction points permitting angular displacements of said carrier, the depth of said tracks substantially corresponding to the vertical distance between the lower surface of said casters and the edge of said platform.

3. In a building for the purpose described, the combination with a storage floor, of a carrier comprising a vehicle supporting platform, and four supporting casters therefor, a sunken runway for said carrier comprising a transversal and a longitudinal tract, each tract comprising an individual track for the casters at each side of said platform, said tracks being adapted to guide said carrier along their linear paths preventing angular movements thereof about its vertical axis, and a circular track at the junction point of said transversal and longitudinal tracts, said circular track being on a level with said trackway tracts and being adapted to receive and to guide said casters while said platform is angularly displaced about its vertical axis, the depth of said tracks substantially corresponding to the vertical distance between the lower surface of said casters and the edge of said platform.

a. In a building for the purpose described, the combination with a storage floor, of a carrier comprising a vehicle supporting platform, and four supporting casters therefor, a sunken runway for said carrier comprising a transversal and a longitudinal tract, each tract comprising an individual track for the casters at each side of said platform, said tracks being adapted to guide said carrier along their linear paths preventing angular movements thereof about its vertical axis, a circular track at the junction point of said transversal and longitudinal tracts, said circular track being on a level with said trackway tracts and being adapted to receive and to guide said casters while said platform is angularly displaced about its vertical axis, and positioning means delimiting the position of said platform when its vertical axis coincides with the center of said circular track.

GOTHARD LOWENSTEIN. 

